Sunday, November 15, 2009

full circle: a year in review

october 2008:on the move again... we moved on halloween last year to shelley. Mike was off track from school and was applying for jobs in idaho falls so we figured why not move closer to IF? we found a wonderful duplex in shelley (just 7 miles from IF). it was bigger and cheaper than our place in rexburg and the places we looked at in idaho falls so we were happy. caiden was a dinosaur for halloween and since we were in the process of moving grandma jana, aunt candice, payton and cierra were gracious enough to take him off our hands so he could play and get some pictures taken. unfortunately the pictures we had were on our computer and it crashed back in june so we don't have anything to show for it...sad!

november 2008:mike and i both got jobs... mike as a seasonal night stocker at walmart and me as a receptionist at the essence of you day spa and salon. we weren't able to go anywhere for thanksgiving because of our work schedules so i made a small thanksgiving dinner for the 3 of us. it was actually kinda fun! i even stuffed our little turkey with homemade stuffing.

december 2008:christmas was great! we were able to spend it with mikes brother clint and his family at mikes mom's house in idaho falls. it was great to see them and let caiden and landon play together! later we spent some time with mike's dad and step mom. my brother david and his family came up to visit at christmas time also. that was really fun to hang out with them.

january-march 2009:not a whole lot happened during these months. my mom and dad were up visiting my brother and his family so we decided to go down and hang out.

pop pop and caiden reading together

pop pop, caiden and mom mom

in march my niece madison was in a dance competition in pocatello so she, my nephew, jackson, my brother, mike and my sister in law, becky were able to stop by and visit which was really fun!

april 2009:mike started back at BYU-I and we found out they had made more changes and they were no longer offering his major so after a big hassle we finally found out that he could still continue in his health education major with a physical education minor as long as he graduated by dec. 2010. we made a list of all his classes and figured we could make it so he is on his way.easter was fun! it was caiden's first easter where we dyed eggs. i think he enjoyed it but he thought the eggs were balls so he just threw them around when we finished. luckily the shells just cracked a little and no mess was made... but i was surprised to find out that eggs can bounce.

may 2009:we moved again... yep thats right. probably no surprise there with how many times we have moved. but our lease was coming to an end and we weren't sure what to do but we were really blessed because mike's step mom, marie, along with his dad asked if we would like to live in their newly finished 2 bedroom 1 bath basement for only $100 rent. we couldn't pass this up so we moved in at the beginning of the month.

june 2009:caiden turned 2! he got a great handy man tool set from mom mom and pop pop.

one sunday we were hanging out upstairs with mike's dad and step mom and we realized that caiden wasn't around anymore so we went downstairs and found caiden like this:

apparently it was his bedtime. he made his own bed, including 5 different blankets, on the couch because he got all tuckered out.

we had a gartner family reunion at the beginning of the month in park city. my mom mom and aunt denise we able to come out from delaware which was really wonderful! we went swimming, walked around downtown, went to temple square and took a tour of the conference center. we had a great time!

july 2009:mike finished his semester and was now on his summer break until sept. my mom mom passed away at the end of the month so it was wonderful to be able to see her one last time at our reunion last month. i was able to fly out to delaware for a few days for the funeral services and to help out where needed. both of my brothers were able to go as well so it was nice that all of us could be together at this time.

august 2009:we found out we are going to have a baby! i am currently 18 weeks and am due april 20th.

september 2009:mike started school but before he did we took a trip to california to visit my parents. we visited the happiest place on earth for a day! it was a ton of fun at disneyland! my mom was able to get the day off of work so she got to go with us. it was caiden's first time there and he had a lot of fun esp when he got to see pooh, rabbit, and tigger:

october 2009:yo ho yo ho a priates life for me... caiden was a pirate for halloween this year! aargh!!

Um how did I miss this post until now? I don't know, but congrats on the new one! What are you having? So exciting! Anytime you want to come to a warmer state, look me up, we're always happy to have visitors!